


Bad Liar

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Boss/Employee Relationship, Cameos, Canon: CW DC TV Universe, DC Comics References, Flashbacks, Kryptonians, Kryptonite, M/M, Secret Identity, Superheroes, Superpowers, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-06-02 11:18:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19440385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: Atem is one of the heros protecting Domino City, Seto is an anti-hero protecting the city in... his own special wayAtem is a Kryptonian who's ship was buried in the Egyptian desert for years, Seto is distantly related to the LuthorsThey're arch-nemeses! .. And also working together! .. And ... somethingmoreas well





	Bad Liar

**Author's Note:**

  * For [venom_for_free](https://archiveofourown.org/users/venom_for_free/gifts).



> For Prompt Monday- "Rollercoaster"
> 
> I dedicate this one to Venom because she helped me come up with the idea :) I could go on for chapters with this idea because I have so much backstory in mind but it was just too long so I had to slice it up a little xD

**Present Day**

The sound of metal creaking and groaning was almost deafening

The rollercoaster would be done for in no time, and not even _he_ would be able to save it

As if summoned, the blur of red and blue flashed in the sky, and the collapse was atleast sort of halted

"Give it up Pharaoh! You're not saving this one, you can't be in four places at once, you can't keep that thing standing!"

From the sky, the superhero glared down at the man on the ground, gritting his teeth in irritation

"You again.... what's the meaning of this Draco!?"

"Simple- none of these rides are up to code, they're all safety hazards and should be torn down before the park opens and some kid gets hurt! Or worse, _killed_!"

The look on Pharaoh's face as he tried desperately to keep the rollercoaster standing- despite the fact that it had already started to topple in some areas- was one of utter dumbfounded confusion

"... So inform the authorities! You can't go around destroying private property!"

"The authorities won't do jack shit and you know it! And _you_ go around destroying private property all the time so I wouldn't get too critical if I were you!"

"Yes but I do it wile saving people and hunting things-!"

"I know, I know- the family business?"

Pharaoh rolled his eyes, trying to tune his hearing in to see how much longer back up would take before getting there- not too long it seemed...

"Excellent use of Supernatural reference aside- you STILL can't do this!"

Draco huffed, rolling his eyes behind his mask and crossing his arms over his chest

"Newsflash Pharaoh- I'm a bad guy, it's what I do,"

Ofcourse "bad guy" was kind of a loose assumption when the dastardly deed amounted to trying to protect kids from unsafe amusement parks but he still considered it a villainous thing to do, destroying a rollercoaster and all

"You won't get away with it this time though," Pharaoh smirked as reinforcements finally arrived

Just as the rollercoaster was about to collapse for good, a few shots of spider webbing were flung at the other end of the ride to help it stay in place as a masked hero came to Pharaoh's aid

That was fine, Draco was counting on it

In fact, he was _really_ counting on the blonde who came rushing towards him holding the almost cartoonish looking magic wand and screaming about "In the name of time and space, I will defeat you!" or whatever the hell he was talking about

_Good_

Right as the blonde came at him with that wand thing, Draco ducked and gave him a sharp push

The blonde stumbled towards the coaster, the wand tapped against it...

And like _clockwork_ \- ha- the thing began turning to rust

"... Uh-oh..." the blonde mumbled, mostly to himself, as Pharaoh and the spider-hero quickly jumped away from the rusting, collapsing thing

"Nice going, Mutt," Draco snickered, a grin on his face as the rollercoaster finally and completely collapsed

"Joke's on you Draco, now that we don't have the rollercoaster to deal with, all our attention can be on capturin' you!" the blonde shouted as he pointed the rediculous looking Magical Girl-esque wand at the "villain"

"Oh really?" Draco smirked back, clearing his throat and snapping his fingers ... as a series of bombs went off throughout the rest of the amusement park

Given the look on the superheros' faces, Draco would be pretty willing to bet that they hadn't seen that coming

"See you later losers," he snickered, before snapping his fingers again and vanishing in a cloud of blue smoke

"One of these days," Pharaoh said slowly, "I am going to _murder_ him,"

**Two years ago**

"Seto, this is Atem,"

Leaning back in his office chair, the CEO gave a small, polite nod to the stranger in front of him, forcing something akin to a smile- for business sake

"Well if my cousin is introducing you to me then it must be a pleasure to meet you," he noted, tilting forward and holding his hand out for the stranger to shake

He was... _cute_

Bright crimson eyes obscured by a pair of nerdy black-rimmed glasses, blonde and black and red toned hair pulled back into a messy bun, with dark copper skin and wearing a pinstripe shirt and dress pants

_Cute_

Especially when he gave an anxious smile and shook Seto's hand

"Lena, why _am_ I meeting Mr...?"

"Amyr," Atem interjected quickly, pulling his hand back and adjusting his glasses

"Mr. Amyr then," Seto concluded, glancing up at his cousin instead

"Well I suppose first I should introduce you to my freind, Kara," she explained, tilting her head to the blonde girl standing next to her, who wore an identical pair of glasses to Atem's

Huh, must be a new fad

"Kara is a close freind of mine and she's one of the best reporters in the industry, remember? I told you I acquired that press company a few months back?"

"Yes, I remember,"

Actually, it had inspired him to start up his own, after hearing of Lena's success with it

"Well I found out that Kara's cousin lived here in Domino City and I thought, what a _magnificent_ coincidence that _my_ cousin lives here too,"

Cousins?

Well, they may not look anything alike physically, but the glasses, the mannerisms, the clothes....

Seto could see the family resemblance

"I decided to come here and visit you wile Kara was visiting Atem, I thought it'd be a fun girls trip, and when I found out that Atem was looking for a job as a reporter, I decided that this _had_ to be kismet and decided to introduce you to him, given that you just so happen to be in need of a reporter yourself,"

"Yes... what a coincidence that must be," Seto noted with a bit of skepticism

It sounded a little too _perfect_ to be a coincidence to him, but he trusted his cousin, one of the only people in the world he had any faith in at all, so he would give this a try for her

For now

"You know, their cousin Clark is a reporter too," Lena continued a moment later

"I _really_ need to find out what it is in your bloodline that just _screams_ 'reporter'," she teased, her focus entirely on her "freind" now

"Freind", Seto wanted to laugh

She was making the most lovey googoo eyes at the blonde that Seto might just be sick from it

"O-Oh I just- .. well... Clark and I have always been really close so I just- .. ah.."

Kara seemed fairly ... _uncertain_ about where she was going with this explanation, but Atem jumped in quickly after in some failure of an attempt to help

"And I admire my cousins so much that I wanted to walk in their footsteps," he added quickly

Yeah... Seto wasn't falling for that "explanation"

Something was fishy here and he was going to find out what it was or die trying

"Well," Seto noted with an exhale, his attention focused solely on Atem now

"I wouldn't usually do this... but I trust my cousin, if she's reccomending you, then welcome to Kaiba Corp, you can start tommorrow,"

**Present Day**

"Dammit," Atem grumbled as he leaned back against the wall behind him, rubbing his eyes in frustration

"Some arch nemesis ya' got there," Joey muttered as he joined his freind

Currently they were waiting for Yugi to finish explaining the ... _circumstances_.... of this bullshit incident to the owner of the amusement park

Of the three of them, he was definitely the most diplomatic, so the duty had fallen on his shoulders

"You're telling me," Atem added with an annoyed huff

"Too bad ya' couldn't've inherited a Luthor like your cousins huh?"

To that, Atem only gave a quiet, strained, fake laugh, a clear look of disdain on his face

"In fairness Joey, only _Clark's_ Luthor is evil, Kara and I have _good_ Luthors.... well, for the most part,"

Partly said because Seto was only cousins to the Luthor name- and adopted, though.. ironically... wasn't Lena adopted too? Maybe there _is_ something to be said about blood relations...- and partly said because, wile he definitely wouldn't call Seto "evil".....

_He had his moments_

"Yeah ok, but still, ya' gotta think that o' all the supervillains ya' could've gotten stuck with, Mr. Rollercoaster Exploder was pretty bad luck,"

"Actually I disagree, I'd rather deal with someone who does rediculous things for the mostly right reasons than someone who's just pure evil, or worse, someone who does horrible things for reasons that you can... kind of .. sort of... _agree_ with,"

"Fair, what's with all the morally ambiguous villains these days anyhow?"

"Not sure, but I certainly miss the days of villains just being evil like what Clark tells me about," he noted with a quiet sigh, crossing his arms over his chest

"No shit," Joey grumbled back, the conversation pausing between the two of them as Yugi finally came towards them, finally finished talking to the owner of the amusement park, evidently

"Joey, can you use your Time Warp to fix the park and put it back to the way it was before Draco got to it?"

"Sure I _can_.... but I'm not too sure if I _should_ ,"

"What do you mean?" Atem asked with surprise

"Well I was lookin' around at the damage an' I started noticin' ... much as I hate to admit it, Draco was kinda... _right_... my uncle worked at a carnival when I was a kid so I learned a couple things 'bout places like this, an' the douchebag had a point 'bout the code violations, everything in here's held together with toothpicks an' bubblegum, it's an accident waitin' to happen, if I put it back to that then some kid's prob'ly gonna come in here an get hurt or killed within a couple days o' it bein' open, but if it stays like this, they can file for the insurance claim an' .. I dunno, atleast then there'll be a _chance_ that they'll put it together better next time,"

"Ok," Yugi nodded slowly

"It's your decision Jo, if that's what you'd like to do, then I'll tell him you can't do it,"

"Thanks Yug," Joey smiled back, waving his boyfreind off as the other hero headed back off to talk to the amusement park owner again

"It's just a shame we can't prevent him from putting it together poorly again," Atem mused with a frown, crossing his arms over his chest

He'd blame Draco for that- for taking away the evidence that the rides were poorly constructed before propper authorities could be involved, but...

He knew within reason that his "nemesis" had been correct, the authorities wouldn't have done much of anything except maybe make the owner of the park pay a fine

Atleast this way if the park re-opened, it wouldn't be for a pretty long time, as everything was destroyed, and in the future, they could keep an eye on it and make sure that it wasn't constructed poorly like that again

"Yeah, but ... ya' can't do everything 'Tem, ya' oughtta know that by now, what is it with you Kryptonians an' always thinkin' ya' gotta save the world?"

Atem just shrugged, a small smile on his face as he watched Yugi and the owner of the park talk

"I don't know... it's just who we are,"

**Two years ago**

"Well? What do you think? Are you ready for your first time saving the world?"

Atem gave a quiet laugh, shaking his head in response to that as he stared in the mirror

"As nice as the suit is, I'm not sure if I'm ready for something like that just yet, perhaps we start easy? Saving a cat who's stuck in a tree? Though I do recall that _your_ first mission involved saving a plane from crashing..." he mused, giving a small twirl as he continued staring in the mirror

He had to admit, he liked it, it had elements of both of his cousins' suits but was distinctly his own, keeping the red, blue, and yellow color scheme and the signature El house crest but ... still being quite different

Rather than long sleeves, his suit was short-sleeved and sported fingerless gloves

The red cape stayed, with red thigh-high heeled boots and a skirt

The top of the suit was mostly the same, except for the blue fabric stretching upwards in something of a choker or turtle-neck sort of design to cover his throat, and the crest of El wich was subtly different than the way it looked on his cousins' suits, hollowed like Supergirl's, but with a thinner exterior design consisting of three thin bands of red and yellow to encase the signature S symbol, wich was more prominent thanks to the thinner outer bands

He fucking _loved_ it

"You _are_ the first of us to get your suit before your first heroic act, so I guess you have more choice as to what that first act is," Kara teased playfully

"I suppose," Atem hummed, letting his fingers slowly glide down the edges of his cape

He had never imagined being anything like this before....

Growing up on Krypton, he had never thought of being a superhero

He had never even thought such a thing existed

But now...

"We need to decide on a name though," Kara added suddenly, distracting him from his thoughts

"Well you and Clark took the obvious ones, and Connor, though I'd prefer not to go by 'Superboy' anyway,"

"Yeah.... maybe .. maybe it shouldn't be gendered, maybe it should be like... Superperson, or... Superhuman? SuperKryptonian?"

Atem winkled his nose, about to object to those horrendous suggestions, but was interrupted by the sound of screaming downtown

His face lit up- as did his cousin's, and they locked eyes

"Well? This is it! This is your big moment! Go, go!!"

Permission obtained, he hurried to the nearest window, delighted that he had chosen to get an apartment on a high floor, and jumped out, his heart racing with delight and ecstasy as his flying abilities kicked in and he hurried towards the sound

He was still getting used to the ... _overwelmingness_ of it all

Everything on Earth was brighter and louder and sharper and more sensory-overloading than it was on Krypton

Or atleast he was perceiving it that way thanks to the power of the yellow sun making him super sensitive to everything

The glasses Kara had given him last year when they met for the first time helped him desensitize to it all, but it was still a bit difficult to adjust when he wasn't wearing them, so it took him a moment to zero in on the location of the screams, but once he did...

"Kaiba Corp...?"

Panic and dread started to fill him, and he hurried to the building, crashing through a window on the first floor, gritting his teeth in anger as he peered at the sight before him

A group of five or six armed and armored men holding up the dedicated employees of Kaiba Corp, who had stayed late into the night working

Currently there were only four of them there plus Kaiba himself, the four employees on the ground with their hands behind their heads, and Kaiba...

Kaiba had a gun pressed against his head as he was being pushed towards the safe that one of the other assailants was gesturing to

Huh, a robbery...

Well, he supposed it could be worse

"Who the fuck are you!?" shouted one of the assailants

Oh great, he hadn't come up with a name yet and that's LITERALLY the first thing he's supposed to say!?

Shit shit shit...

"I ... I am the Pharaoh, and I am here to protect the innocent and stop your vile crimes!"

Wow, yikes, that's corny even for his standards

He's never going to live that down, is he?

"If you're looking to protect the _innocent_ , you're in the wrong place _Pharaoh_ ," Kaiba grumbled from where he was currently being threatened

Atem wasn't too sure what he meant by that, but he assumed it was just a smartass remark

"Ha, ya' here that boys? We've got ourselves a super-dork," snickered the man by the safe, who immediately turned his gun towards Atem

"Too bad dressing like Superman isn't enough to make you bullet proof," another laughed, pulling the trigger on his gun- again and again and again....

And each time the bullets did nothing but bounce off of Atem like rubber pellets

The assailants all exchanged worried looks, a nice contrast to the grin on Atem's face as the Kryptonian sped forward and started to take them out one by one in rapid succession

All except for the one who had the gun to his boss' head, that one Kaiba managed to take out by himself, using the assailant's distraction to his advantage and jamming his elbow in the stranger's ribs, yanking the gun quickly out of his hands and tossing it across the room before spinning in his hold and punching him in the face

"Thanks for the help," Aetm smiled proudly as he watched the last of the gunmen sink to the ground, Kaiba pulling his hand back and shaking the stinging sensation out of it

"Shouldn't that be what I say to you?"

"You don't need to thank me," Atem shrugged back

"I wasn't going to, I had it under control," Kaiba grumbled, moving towards the phone, likely to call 119

"Oh it looked _very_ under control," Atem teased playfully as Kaiba leaned back in his office chair, phone to his ear

"It was, I was just waiting for the right moment to strike,"

"I'm sure," Atem winked, heading to the broken window and wincing, he was suddenly realizing what Kara had been warning him about with destroying private property....

"Um... sorry-"

"It's alright, a window can be replaced, a life can't," Kaiba replied firmly

Atem smiled warmly, nodding and clearing his throat, head bowed a little

"Well, I'll... see you another time, hopefully in a far less dangerous situation,"

Kaiba only nodded, giving a small wave as Atem jumped out of the window

"See you later... Pharaoh,"

**Present Day**

"That should be everything, are you ready to go Pharaoh?"

Atem turned his attention to his freinds, giving them a small smile and a shake of his head

"Actually... I'm going to stay a moment longer, I can't pinpoint what it is but there's something strange going on here,"

"Want us to stay with ya'?" Joey offered

"No no that's alright, you two go back to work, I'll catch up to you quite soon I'm sure," he promised with a shrug

Yugi and Joey exchanged a short glance but ultimately nodded in agreement

"Alright, but don't hesitate to call if you need anything ok? You have the pager right?"

Atem nodded, rolling down the wrist of one of his gloves to show the small pink device he kept there to page for Joey in case he needed back up, a strange feature that had come with the blonde's powers when he had been uh... _zapped_.... as he called it

(Atem still had alot to learn about this planet, but he didn't think he would ever understand how Magical Girl and Magical Boy powers worked)

"I always have it,"

"Good, then we'll see you later," Yugi promised, launching a web towards a nearby building and swinging away

Joey gave a wave before following quickly after, tossing a pocket watch at the ground as a portal opened up and allowed him to run through

....

Magical Boy powers man......

Shaking his head, Atem rolled his glove back down and started his investigation

It hadn't hit him at first, not until he and Joey had started waiting around for Yugi to finish talking to the owner of the amusement park, but there was just something off about this place, and Atem had long ago learned not to ignore his sense of weirdness when it struck

You never know what could be lurking around to cause trouble...

He'd just give this place a quick once-over and then get back to work

Easy enough, right?

Though, just to be safe, he thought it might be a good idea to contact his ... _other half_... before he did

Clearing his throat, he moved his gloves over the right breast of his suit, activating the invisible body camera that he kept there for cases like this

"Testing, can you see?"

_"I can see just fine,"_ replied the voice coming through the earpeice he kept in his left ear

"Good, there's something kind of ... weird... about this place, I'm going to investigate it,"

_"Gee, it's almost as if I told you there was something hinky with it,"_

"Not now, we'll talk about your _issues of mass destruction_ later," Atem huffed as he began walking through the destroyed park

Honestly, sometimes Draco could be damn near insufferable....

But ultimately Atem was glad to have him there....

**Two years ago**

"So, why exactly did you decide to call yourself 'Pharaoh' anyway?" Yugi asked curiously, taking a bite of his lunch

Atem shrugged, his face turning a little red as he sipped on his coffee

"It just sort of.... came out? I don't know... I don't think there are any good names left with 'super' in the name, Kara said it was important to make this identity _mine_ and not let it blend in too much with her's or Clark's ... and I'm ... I'm different from the rest of my family, I'm only a distant relative of the main El family tree, wich is why my name is different,"

"Your name?" Yugi asked in confusion

"I just thought that was because you were born- .. well... _reborn_ in Egypt?"

"No, haven't you noticed a pattern? Clark, Kara, and Connor, all based on their birth-names, Kal, Kara, and Kon, my name is based on my birth-name too- Ah-T`e`, Ah-T`e` El is my real name, sounds different than the others right? My branch of the family tree was a bit non-traditional, but ... my point is, I'm different, I look different, my name is different, I .... _am_ different, so I thought... maybe my superhero name should be too,"

"Well I like it," Yugi promised with a smile, reaching out and squeezing Atem's hand

"I think it sounds regal,"

"Thank you," Atem laughed, shaking his head with amusement

"I appreciate that, though I wish it was as cool as _Silk-Spinner_ ,"

"That was an act of desperation, all the good spider references were taken, atleast _your_ excuse for that is a family issue, mine is just that too many people in the world ended up with spider powers through... surprisingly differentiating means,"

"Yes... wich reminds me, I never did ask, did I? Just how you got your po-"

"Mr. Kaiba, hi!" Yugi suddenly shouted, effectively cutting Atem off before he could say anything that he would later regret

"Good, you two are here together," Kaiba said as he approached the table

"I have a new assignment for you both,"

"Oh?"

Atem couldn't wait to hear this- a thought of sarcasm if any

He couldn't say that he disliked his job- he actually found it fairly .... nice, kind of relaxing, wich was good considering that his other "job" required constant energy and attention

"Reporting" on the gaming industry wasn't that difficult and it wasn't very time consuming either, especially as his job specifically related to doing interveiws

He didn't find it very interesting or fullfilling, but it was a good balance against saving the world, and a much needed one too, as he heard often from his cousins that being a real investigative journalist was, at times, even harder than being a superhero

So he didn't dislike it by any means, but he didn't take it that seriously either

"I'm going to move you two to the new department of our press, we'll be running a new magazine focusing on superheros,"

Quietly, Atem and Yugi exchanged looks, partly concerned, partly confused

"Superheros?" Atem echoed

"Yes, Domino City has seen a recent influx in them, between Pharaoh, Silk Spinner, and that blonde idiot in the skirt,"

"Time Traveler," Yugi supplied with a frown

"Right, whatever, the point is, the world in general has started seeing a bigger boom than most people can keep up with lately but especially our city, the new magazine will be a way of keeping up with their exploits, ofcourse we'll concentrate on the ones we have here in the city but we'll cover any superheros across the world as well in something of a smaller capacity,"

"... Sounds great," Yugi smiled politely, giving their boss a thumb's up

"Right, your first task is going to be interveiwing the heros that make up this city, you'll start tommorrow,"

And with that, Kaiba walked away, leaving Atem and Yugi to stare at eachother in dread

Well, Atem _had_ had an easy job....

**Present Day**

_"I don't see anything yet,"_

"Neither do I..."

Maybe he was wrong

Maybe Atem was just tired and paranoid or something

He had been across half the park by now and so far hadn't found anything particularly odd or concerning....

Oh well, he was already half-way done, he might as well finish what he started

Seeing a house of mirrors up ahead, he decided to make that the next sector of his exploration, slipping inside and feeling thankfull for his super-sight so that his vision wasn't impaired in the dark

_"About earlier..."_

"It's alright, you can apologize later,"

_"What? I was going to give **you** the chance to apologize,"_

"What would _I_ need to apologize for!?"

_"For letting your Lawfull Good side control your actions against your better judgement?"_

"I'm not apologizing for that, I stand by what I said, you can't just destroy people's property because you think they've done something wrong,"

_"I KNOW that the property was a hazard, first of all, and YOUR freind chose to keep it that way, second of all,"_

Atem was going to counter that "point", he really was... but...

There was something weird about the mirror in front of him

Not in the wacky funhouse way, but ... it seemed off-kilter somehow....

_"Pharaoh?"_

"Is it just me .... or is there something wrong about this mirror....?" Atem asked quietly, not waiting for an answer before reaching up and easily pulling the mirror off of the wall

There was a door behind it

And upon jostling the handle, he realized it was a _locked_ door

Frowning more deeply, he felt his eyes beginning to heat up, lasers coming forth and easily blasting a hole in the door

_"Now who's destroying private property on suspicion alone?"_

"That's different! Most of this property is already destroyed, it isn't like I'm doing damage that isn't already done,"

Thouse house of mirrors was half incinerated from the bombs already

Wich reminded him, he was going to have to talk to his "freind" about his liberal use of explosives....

Draco may have said something after that, but if he did, Atem didn't hear him, he was too busy exploring the room he had just uncovered

The room full of Kryptonite....

Swallowing tightly, he took a long, sweeping veiw of the glass cabinets filled to the brim with every color of Kryptonite he could think of ...

Red, gold, silver, black, white, red-gold, and ofcourse green....

Hell, there were even the uh... _exotic_.... colors like pink, orange, and periwinkle

_"Ok, what the fuck does pink Kryptonite do?"_

"That's .. a long and kind of touchy story," Atem winced as he took a step back

This guy wasn't just _hoarding_ Kryptonite, he was _creating_ it

Half of these colors were only available through genetic manipulation, they weren't found in nature, but who could have such knowledge of Kryptonite and yet go so under the radar that they hadn't been noticed by anyone in his family before?

Unless they had been.....

But that was crazy, right?

Surely it wasn't a Luthor....

_"Pharaoh...?"_

"I'm coming home," he said quietly, taking a slow step back

"I'm coming home and I need you to prepare a team to take this place out, we need to get rid of this shit befor-"

He didn't have time to finish his sentence, as soon as he had turned around to head back through the door, a glowing green spear was shoved through his chest

_"Pharaoh!? PHARAOH!?"_

Atem shook, his veins glowing green as the Kryptonite began to infect his system, and his mind slowly going offline as he passed out

**One year ago**

"Atem! Get behind me!"

Cursing under his breath, Seto hurried to throw himself in front of his ... _employee_

True, maybe by this point in their relationship he could have started to call the reporter something else, something fonder, like... like a _freind_... but he still hadn't started to let himself believe that

People always betrayed him

People were always horrible

It may take a wile, but they always inevitably revealed themselves to be that way

He didn't want to believe it of Atem, but he was too scared to confess yet that maybe, just maybe, he could be different

"Kaiba-!"

"Just stay behind me and let me protect you!" Seto shouted back, keeping his jaw clenched as he watched the chaos unfolding in front of them

He felt so.... _helpless_

So _powerless_

There was an army of super soldiers destroying the park, calling themselves the New Children Of Liberty- whatever American bullshit that meant

Apparently, if Atem's breif and scattered recap had meant anything, a few months prior America had seen the rise of these asshats who were out to destroy aliens

Now apparently there was an international branch

He wanted so badly to walk out there and ... _do something_

Protect the city, protect his building, protect his employees- several of wich he knew were aliens- but they had ... super guns and overpowered weapons and he had nothing

He and Atem had come out for a walk in the park to discuss a new editorial and he had left any fire arms he had managed to stow away back at the office

He was defenseless

Entirely defenseless, and he _despised_ it

Even worse, that super-jerk was late to the party, meaning that the only one who could protect Atem- the only one who could protect the one non-relative who meant anything to him- was Seto himself

And yet all he could do to accomplish that was _hide_

Fuck....

"We're going to get out of here, we're going back to the office and putting the building on lock-down, alright Atem?"

When he turned around though, he found with utter horror that Atem was nowhere to be seen

"Atem!?"

Screaming caught his attention, and he turned back around, glancing up at the sky to see Pharaoh high above, his cape billowing like a .... like a beacon of hope, his expression stern and serious as he charged towards the soldiers, their bullets bouncing off of him as if they were nothing but foam darts

For the second time now, this man had saved him, and Seto was.... sick of it

He was sick of being defenseless

He was sick of being helpless

And so his mind was made up

When he got out of here, after finding Atem, he would become a superhero himself

He would make a suit, build some technology, it'd be like... Ironman but better

He may not have been born a hero, but that didn't mean he couldn't become one

**Present day**

Atem groaned quietly, rolling to the side and slowly opening his eyes

Everything was blurry and the world was heavy around him

He felt so .... off and out of it....

He felt so ....

_Oh_...

He wanted to be sick...

But he couldn't be, he knew

He slowly and steadily forced himself to his feet, wobbling as he took in a few heavy breaths, fighting to stay in control, fighting to keep himself steady as he watched the fight in front of him unfold

The man from earlier, who was apparently some sort of.... meta human, if the uh ... _blades for arms_ were anything to say for that

And Draco

Dressed in beautifull black body suit, high heeled boots and a black mask over his eyes with a wing motiff fanned out at the sides, another mask covering his mouth, similar to a ninja design, and sleek black animatronic wings on his back

The stranger launched an attack towards Draco, and the dragon-themed anti-hero flipped backwards, spinning elegantly on his heel and drawing a miniature sword out of his boot

Ha.... the boot-sword, Atem had always loved that thing

The two fought hand to hand, blade to blade, a little longer as Atem quietly crept out of the room

He kept going... going.... going.... until he was sure he had enough space, then began to levitate off the ground, concentrating all of his power into his fist and charging forward as fast as he could, smacking the villain in the back of the head and sending him flying

"Pharaoh!" Draco shouted with releif

Atem smiled gently at the other, preparing to go forward.. until he saw that the villain had landed in one of the Kryptonite filled cabinets ...

"I-"

"Go, get the police, I've got this,"

Atem was hesitant, but ultimately nodded

He knew he would just be more trouble if he stayed, and that punch should have been enough to seriously weaken the villain, enough to give Draco all he needed to finish him off

The police had been called earlier when dealing with the destroyed amusement park, but they had left right before Yugi and Joey had

No matter, it wouldn't be hard for Atem to fly to the station and get them again

He took off as quickly as he could, pouring all of his energy into speeding to the police station so he wouldn't have to leave Draco there with that villain for too long

He knew that Draco could handle himself, but he still didn't like the idea of letting him fight alone

Draco was an anti-hero, that was for sure

He constantly went behind Atem's back and enacted crazy plans like blowing up faulty amusement parks and staging a bank robbery to expose a corrupt bank owner, but he had a good heart, and the bad things he did were done with the right intentions

They just needed to work on his methods, that was all

He rushed into the landing at the police station, practically nocking the doors down as he hurried inside

"I need a full team and a containment unit- NOW!"

**One year ago**

"Well folks, prepare yourselves, we got another nutjob here," Joey grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and shaking his head as he stared down at the scene in front of him

"Meaning what exactly?" Atem asked upon landing beside him

"Some guy in a black leather bodysuit with _wings_ just lit that warehouse on fire, the one on Brook Avenue?" Yugi supplied, 

"Now he's holdin' some CEO hostage," Joey added, nodding towards the building in front of them

"He's demanding to talk to you," Yugi added

Atem wrinkled his nose, swallowing and giving a small nod as he flew towards the open window on one of the top floors, assuming that was where the criminal was currently residing

He wasn't really used to being asked for by name yet, but he had been warned by his cousins that he would need to get used to it

The thing about superheros- especially the ones who tried to ask first and punch later- was that they belonged to the people

They didn't work for the government, they didn't work for .. _anyone_

And so people trusted them, they trusted that in a time of tragedy or panic, if anyone could help them, it would be a superhero

Though, there were also plenty of people who intentionally wanted to get rid of superheros, who would commit a crime or stage a horrible event for the express purpose of trapping the hero in question and killing them

He'd have to be cautious

He'd have to use his words rather than his fists

He just hoped that would be enough...

Flying in through the window, he was relatively surprised to find himself met with ... a guy in a dragon costume...?

It was a sleek black suit yes, but there were also definitely wings there....

And he was holding a blade against the throat of the CEO in question- the head of a prominent design company, one of the most sought after designers in the world actually

"Ah, Pharaoh, it's about time you got here," the villain said with a smirk, turning his attention towards the hero

"Who are you and what do you want?" Atem asked directly, deciding to skip right to the chase

"I am Draco, and I want nothing but the truth!"

"The... truth...?"

The CEO shouted as the blade was pressed closer to his throat, Draco's eyes hard and narrowed

"This scum bag has been abusing children and assaulting women for years! There's proof of it too, in that safe in the wall, get the proof or I'll slit his throat,"

Atem swallowed tightly, glancing at the panicking- but guilt-ridden- look on the CEO's face and stepping towards the safe, deciding to forego asking for the code- knowing that, based on the look on the man's face, he wouldn't give it even if Atem asked- and instead aiming his laser vision at the safe, just enough to melt the lock off of it, not enough to damage the contents inside

"Draco... right? Why didn't you just go to the police with this?"

"Because they wouldn't do jack shit, the police here are corrupt, Pharaoh, even some of the heros are, I'm not sure who I can trust, so I decided if I wanted to protect anyone I'd just have to do it myself,"

"And is that what you're doing?" Atem asked as he slid the singed door aside and reached into the safe

"Protecting someone?"

"I'm protecting anyone from ever being hurt by this scumbag again," Draco replied

Atem nodded slowly, glancing down at what he had pulled from the safe and immediately feeling sick to his stomach

Photos...

Photos of women in ..... _compromising_..... situations

And it certainly didn't look consensual...

"Ok," he said quickly, looking away from the sickening images

"Ok, I believe you, I'll call the police up here and ... and we'll send him away, alright?"

"I don't want the police, they'll just find some way to get him off," he replied

"I want you to release all of this to the press, I want the people of Domino to hear it from the person they love and trust most, that this man is a sick and twisted monster,"

And with that, Draco didn't hesitate any longer to slit the man's throat

Atem couldn't react quickly enough, dropping the pictures and rushing to the ... "victim"?- Could he really call him that?- as Draco flew out the window

"Pharaoh! You and I shall meet again, and someday, perhaps, we'll even be on the same side,"

Before Atem could do anything else, he took off, and Atem had to make the decision- try to save the life of the monster... or try to track down and imprison the man who had slit his throat

....

"Silk Spinner! Time Traveler! I need you up here!" he shouted out the window

He knew it was too late though

Even with Time Traveler's abilities, there was no way to bring someone back from the dead, and the bastard had already stopped breathing

Swallowing, he wondered vaguely if what Draco had said was rue

Would the police have let him go, due to corruption?

Was this really the only way to keep people safe in the future?

Atem's hands were stained red with blood

And he wasn't sure about the answer

**Present Day**

Gasping quietly, Atem blinked awake, rubbing his eyes and sitting up in bed

He felt better, back to normal as a matter of fact...

"Hey, you're awake,"

Glancing up at his companion, he gave a smile and nodded, leaning back on his elbows

"How are you feeling?"

"Much better, yellow sun lamps?" he guessed

Seto nodded, leaning back against the headboard next to his lover and reaching down to loop their fingers together, engagement rings scraping against eachother as he closed his eyes and exhaled

"You gave me quite the scare, you've got to be more carefull about that Kryptonite shit,"

"Well maybe _you_ should investigate a place better before blowing it up," Atem laughed, leaning closer to kiss Seto's cheek

"Wich, by the way, we have GOT to talk about your excessive use of C-4,"

"Mm, no we don't,"

"We kind of do, it's starting to get rediculous and people are beginning to question my power as a hero for not stopping you, I'm not saying to quit entirely, but for the love of Ra, cut back, hm? If we're going to continue making people believe that we're arch nemeses and not _lovers_ , then you have to do better with not constantly challenging my abilities as a hero, atleast make it _look_ like I defeat you once in a wile,"

"Fine fine," Seto grumbled back

It actually hadn't been very long after Seto became Draco that they found out the truth about eachother, they had already been starting to broach the subject of their relationship advancing past simply boss and employee, and after only a few months of being revealed to eachother.... _well_..

"By the way," Seto noted absently

"You never did tell me what pink Kryptonite does,"

Atem smirked, his eyes alight, teasing, as he flipped to rest in Seto's lap, leaning down to wisper into his ear

"It turns you gay,"

".... So what does it do if you're already gay?"

"I don't know, turn you straight? It can change your gender too,"

"... Kryptonians are fucking weird,"

"Hey, we didn't invent the stuff," Atem laughed, wrapping his arms around Seto's neck and leaning in closer, giving him a small kiss

"Besides, we're no weirder than the guy who made mechanical wings going around calling himself 'Dragon', you know that everytime you say 'Draco' I just think of Harry Potter don't you?"

"Fuck you, we both know you find that suit sexy,"

"MMmm... I will neither confirm nor deny that,"

They kissed again, and Atem exhaled, his shoulders sagging a little

It was an incredibly weird relationship to have

Boss and employee

Hero and .. well... anti-hero? Arch-nemesis, something like that

Kryptnoian and Luthor...

All of the things that shouldn't mix, yet they went perfectly together

Atem wouldn't have it any other way


End file.
